Southeastern service between St Pancras and Stratford International (2)

Caroline Russell: In your answer to my question 2018/3045, you confirmed that the Stratford to St. Pancras International journey is now the only rail journey (other than the Heathrow Express) that can be made in London without being included in the daily fares cap. What steps have you now taken to press for this journey to be included within the daily cap, given that Southeastern has, to date, not been prepared to accept the reduction in its revenue that would result from allowing caps to apply and accepting Travelcards?

The Mayor: The Deputy Mayor, Heidi Alexander, has written to the Minister for Rail outlining Transport for London (TfL’s) support for the acceptance of pay as you go price capping and Travelcards on Southeastern high speed services.
TfL will continue to work with Southeastern, the Government and the DfT to push this issue.

Development of 100% Affordable Housing on Station Car Parks in Harrow Stanmore & Canons Park Stations)

Navin Shah: The redevelopment project led by TfL, in partnership with Catalyst Housing Association, to build affordable housing on the station car parks of Rayners Lane, Stanmore and Canons Park Stations has raised concerns from some residents and local community groups. The concerns range from severe criticism about the extent and poor quality of notifications to the impact the development would have on the areas concerned. I have been asked to raise the following specific questions with you – (please note some of the language/tone of questions below is that from a resident and not myself):
Why do you think this is a good idea and why are you showing [in the constituent’s view] no regard for the current residents in the area and their standard of living?


What are you going to do about the congestion?


What are your plans to improve the infrastructure around the area to provide for the new residents? Don't forget there is already a huge development in Honeypot Lane and no extra infrastructure was put in for those people, so residents are already stretched. Will there be extra medical practices? Extra schools? School expansion?


Why have there already been [what the constituent views as] lies about the number of affordable housing units?


Why have there been [what the constituent views as] lies about whether Stanmore & Canons Park station will get lifts?


Where are the people who use the stations going to park?


What will the Mayor, Catalyst and TFL gain [as viewed by the constituent] from this project?

The Mayor: Redevelopment of the sites at Rayners Lane, Canons Park and Stanmore stations offer a great opportunity to provide the genuinely affordable homes that Londoner’s desperately need, while also generating vital revenue to reinvest in the transport network. These homes will be a mixture of shared ownership and London Affordable Rent.
Reducing the amount of car parking spaces will help to address local congestion, and the proposals encourage the use of sustainable forms of transport, for example through including new secure cycle hubs at all three stations. This will have a direct impact on the roads around the three stations, by reducing the number of cars using them each day and improving air quality. Full step-free access will be provided at Stanmore and the designs at Canons Park safeguard space to install step-free access in the future. Transport for London (TfL) undertook significant public engagement on these proposals with almost 700 people attending consultation events.
Catalyst and TfL aim to submit planning applications for all three sites in the next few months. As part of the planning application process, Catalyst is undertaking a Social Impact Assessment to understand the impact these developments could have on local services, allowing it to work with Harrow Council to ensure that appropriate mitigation measures and funding packages are put in place.
I have asked TfL to contact you directly to further discuss your constituent’s concerns.

Refunds for free travel on Gospel Oak to Barking trains (11)

Jennette Arnold: For paper tickets, can you confirm how many people submitted a refund claim to TfL Customer Service by no later than 29 October 2019? How many claims were granted and how many were denied?

The Mayor: The total refunds are not available by ticket type, but the Transport for London Contact Centre processed 588 refunds across all tickets where refunds were not automatically applied (including paper tickets, weekly, and monthly tickets). The total value of this was £19,462.30. The deadline to claim a refund was the 29 October and no paper ticket claims were received outside of this.
All paper ticket claims submitted were refunded, meaning none were declined.

Moorgate Train Information

Joanne McCartney: Further to my Mayor’s Question 2018/2869 - what investigation did TfL undertake in relation to this issue and what was the outcome, if any?

The Mayor: Over the past year, Transport for London (TfL) has held a number of workshops with key partners at Moorgate station, including Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) who operate some of the platforms, to assess what solutions may be possible to reduce congestion at the top of the escalators.
The installation of customer information screens is being considered, and discussions remain ongoing. Both TfL and GTR remain committed to finding a solution to this matter, TfL is meeting with GTR soon to come to a decision and I have asked TfL to provide you with a further update following this meeting.

Thefts from vans

Susan Hall: For each of the years December 2016 to November 2017, December 2017 to November 2018 and December 2018 to November 2019, how many thefts from vans have been recorded?

The Mayor: I am working with the Metropolitan Police Service and partners to reduce all types of acquisitive crime. My Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Sophie Linden,is working with London Councils to produce funding bids for the Safer Streets Fund which will address a number of acquisitive crime types including theft from motor vehicles.
My Police and Crime Plan has also empowered local boroughs to select priorities allowing local solutions to local problems based upon evidence. This framework incorporates London wide priorities with a focus on high harm crimes and wider issues that affect all of London, alongside local volume crime priorities chosen by local authorities in partnership with local police.
As requested, please see the table below:
Offence
Dec 2016 – Nov 2017
Dec 2017 – Nov 2018
Dec 2018 - Nov 2019
Theft from Motor Vehicles
12311
13457
14373

Bus Safety Performance Index (4)

Caroline Pidgeon: Please provide agendas and minutes of all meetings associated with the development of the Bus Safety Performance Index.

The Mayor: This question has required Transport for London (TfL) to search for and review a high volume of archived emails and documents – a task which is further complicated by some of the staff involved having since left TfL.
TfL is in the process of conducting a search of available files and will respond to you directly in due course.

Drug and alcohol checks on private hire drivers

Caroline Pidgeon: Are you content with the current checks undertaken for use of alcohol and drugs by private hire drivers? Will you consider ensuring that the standards for checks are the same standard that apply to bus drivers?

The Mayor: Bus drivers and taxi and PHV licensees are all required to meet DVLA Group 2 requirements of medical fitness which includes a section on drug and alcohol misuse.
If Transport for London has any cause for concern regarding drug or alcohol misuse by a licensee, as obtained via the Medical Declaration, DBS disclosure or any other source, then it will conduct a full licensing review and take appropriate licensing action.

Smart Working Policy

Susan Hall: Which teams will be assigned set desks and how many staff does this currently include?

The Mayor: Most teams will be not be assigned set desks, although they will be assigned a place where team members are likely to locate themselves, which we are currently calling 'anchor points'. We are still working through which teams will be exceptions to this and will conclude this work by the end of March.

Cracked Trials 1

Tony Arbour: For each of the years Nov 16 to Oct 17, Nov 17 to Oct 18 and Nov 18 to Oct 19, please can you provide the number of ‘Cracked Trials’ for the reason that a police officer has failed to attend?

The Mayor: As this question deals with Cracked Trials, the Met is unable to provide a response. Information on cracked trials and other trial outcomes would be held by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Stop and Search – Engagement Programme

Caroline Pidgeon: You committed to increasing “transparency including procurement and distribution of ‘Know your Rights’ leaflets” as a part of your recent Stop and Search Engagement Programme. What progress has been made in the procurement and distribution of this literature, and how are you planning to distribute it to as wide an audience as possible?

The Mayor: I am committed to increasing transparency and awareness, particularly amongst those who are most likely to be stopped and searched, and to date, some 55 000 ‘Know Your Rights’ leaflets have been distributed across London.
The leaflets have been disseminated through a range of community-based organisations, including youth work agencies, Safer Schools Officers, education networks, Safer Neighbourhood Boards, and Community Monitoring Groups, with plans for further distribution in 2020.
My Office for Policing and Crime will continue to promote and target distribution to boroughs across the capital with an emphasis on those who have high levels of stop and search and low confidence in the policing.

Earl’s Court Masterplan (1)

Caroline Pidgeon: Please provide any updates on TfL’s work on this front, in the light of Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s Cabinet agenda item about their CPO strategy?

The Mayor: Both Transport for London (TfL) and I share Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s desire to see development underway at Earls Court as soon as possible, providing much needed new homes for Londoners including higher levels of affordable housing
On 2 December, Capital & Counties (‘Capco’) confirmed it sold its interest to Delancey on behalf of its client fund APG. Now this sale has completed, TfL is working with Delancey to develop a London Plan compliant masterplan with higher levels of affordable housing.

Refunds for free travel on Gospel Oak to Barking trains (12)

Jennette Arnold: For paper tickets, can you confirm how many people received their refund a) by 30th November 2019 and b) after 30th November 2019?

The Mayor: The total refunds are not available by ticket type, but the Transport for London Contact Centre processed 588 refunds across all tickets where refunds were not automatically applied (including paper tickets, weekly, and monthly tickets). The total value of this was £19,462.30.
The refunds were all completed prior to 30 November.

Bus Safety Performance Index (3)

Caroline Pidgeon: Please provide me with any decision memorandums, relevant research documents, consultants’ reports and budgets relating to the development of the Bus Safety Performance Index.

The Mayor: This question has required Transport for London (TfL) to search for and review a high volume of archived emails and documents – a task which is further complicated by some of the staff involved having since left TfL.
TfL is in the process of conducting a search of available files and will respond to you directly in due course.

Refunds for free travel on Gospel Oak to Barking trains (9)

Jennette Arnold: For Oyster (Travelcard valid for longer than one month) tickets, can you confirm how many people received their refund a) by 30th November 2019 and b) after 30th November 2019?

The Mayor: Please see thetable below:
Number of refunds
Season tickets (Travelcards valid for longer than one month) refunded before 30 November
995
Season tickets (Travelcards valid for longer than one month) refunded after 30 November
793

2014 Report from CIRAS about Fatigue from TOL Croydon Tram Drivers

Keith Prince: In response to MQ 2019/19748 you promised that TfL would “undertake a further check” to confirm whether or not its statement recorded in the 22 November 2017 Safety, Sustainability and Human Resources Panel (SSHR) Minutes was based on fact. What were the results of this exercise?

The Mayor: As indicated in my earlier response to Mayor’s Question 2019/19748, TfL has made a further check as to the accuracy of the post meeting note to the minutes of the 22 November 2017 Safety, Sustainability and Human Resources Panel. TfL received the attached letter by way of evidence from CIRAS on 11 November 2019 and the post meeting note was accurate.
Please note that your question refers to a link to the 2014 CIRAS report being contained in a response toMayor's Question 2017/3874. The link was in fact part of the question not the response.